First Kisses
by Maxine-san
Summary: Some first kisses are better than others... SoraRiku, background SoraKairi. Possible KH2 spoilers! PART 3 ADDED! Now the friends find out.
1. First Kisses

First Kisses

disclaimer - don't own it.

warnings - possible KH2 spoilers!

* * *

Riku, as it turned out, was a much better kisser than Kairi was.

Except Sora probably wasn't supposed to know that.

In fact, he kind of wished that he _didn't_ know it, because he had a feeling that his life was about to get complicated all over again and he'd only just gotten used to the peace and quiet that Destiny Islands usually brought.

Not to mention things would probably be all sorts of awkward now.

See, it went like this…

Kairi hadn't been joking when she told Namine and Roxas that she and Sora would be together everyday. Sora had a hunch that Kairi was afraid he'd whip out his keyblade and flounce off on another adventure if she so much as let him use the bathroom on his own. It was a testimony of how much they hung out together – or rather, that Kairi hung all over Sora – that he would find himself startled when he glanced over at the urinal next to his only to find Kairi's presence absent. He'd gotten sort of accustomed to her always shadowing him wherever he went now.

Not that he was happy with it.

It was okay at first. Nice even, because he was so relieved to be back with his friends. _Both_ of his friends, because in the first days of their arrival back to the islands, Riku was always there as well.

But then school started up again, which was just absolutely horrible and really, Sora would take battling the Heartless over _homework_ any day. It didn't help that, on top of classes and, yes, the homework, Riku was a grade above Sora, so he rarely got to see the boy. Kairi, Selphie, and Tidus were in Sora's class (Wakka was in Riku's), and not that Sora disliked these three particular friends, but it was Riku he wanted to hang out with and catch up with and be best friends with like they were before everything had happened.

And it was Riku who he now barely got to see.

If Kairi thought that Sora would disappear if left on his own, her worry seemed to grow tenfold if it was _Riku_ that he was left alone with.

Sora blamed it on the one time she discovered them sitting on their tree, staring out at the horizon with, as she had put it, _yearning_ looks on their faces. Sora couldn't help it if he'd been thinking about Donald and Goofy and was wondering how they were doing! He hadn't heard from them since they'd gone back to King Mickey's castle.

In any case, Kairi had taken it upon herself to become Sora's unofficial bodyguard, and, it seemed, his _girlfriend_.

He still wasn't quite sure how that had come about. One day at lunch, Kairi had sidled up to him while he was standing in line, taken his hand in hers, and fitted herself snuggly against the side of his body. Sora had caught a knowing smirk from Riku two tables away and grinned goofily back at him, and by the end of the day everyone had been congratulating him on finally asking Kairi out.

Which, of course, had never actually happened, but when he tried to explain this to people he was only waved off and ignored.

So it stood. Sora and Kairi were together, taken, no questions asked, and Kairi took to her new role with relish.

Riku, of course, had his own fair share of admirers, all of whom he outright ignored. Along with his mysterious absence (which had been explained to their parents that Riku and Sora had simply gotten separated – they left the whole 'succumbed to the darkness' bit to themselves) and then, subsequently, miraculous return to the islands after over a year, it helped that his hair was now a foot longer and that he stood a foot higher. The girls seemed to like that.

Riku thought it was all very amusing.

Sora thought he might just take a pair of scissors to Riku's hair when he was sleeping and be done with it.

Sometimes they managed to find time alone, though.

"I mean, she's just so _clingy!_" Sora was busy complaining to Riku, having somehow managed to lose Kairi for the night. She'd nearly invited herself along to Sora's to join in their sleepover, but Sora had adamantly refused.

"So dump her, then," Riku said in a bored tone, flipping through the pages of one of Sora's magazines from where he was sprawled out on his stomach across Sora's bed.

"How can I dump her if I never asked her out in the first place!" Sora cried. He flipped over onto his back beside Riku, balling up his fists and rubbing his eyes. "Maybe I'll run away to Atlantica. She'd never find me there."

"Maybe you should have just left her with Maleficent and been done with it," Riku said flatly. He flipped another page, grinning when Sora whacked him upside the head with a pillow.

"Not funny," he said, holding the pillow as if it was his keyblade and then hitting Riku again. Riku tried to grab it from him, which resulted in a brief scuffle that ended with both of them on their backs, panting up at the ceiling.

"Come off it, Sora," Riku said eventually, folding his arms behind his head. "I thought you liked her."

"I do!" Sora argued. "As a _friend_."

"Suuuure." Riku smirked. "That's why you traipsed through an umpteen amount of worlds searching for her."

"I went through even more looking for you," Sora threw back at him. "Found you a couple times, too, even though I didn't know it at the time." He frowned. "You could have _told_ me, you know."

Riku sighed, because this was a conversation they'd had several times before in the past few weeks. "Yeah, I should have, but I didn't, and it's all over now anyway. Do we have to get into that again?"

"Guess not," Sora mumbled, shooting Riku a dirty look.

Riku nodded, before smirking in a slightly scary manner that would have worried Sora had he been paying any attention. "So. Have you kissed her yet?"

"…_What?_"

"I said, have you kissed her yet?"

"Well, I – um. What?" Sora stammered, his cheeks slowly turning red.

"It's a yes or no question, Sora," Riku said, looking amused. He turned on his side, propping up his elbow and resting his cheek on his fist, and arched his eyebrows. "Have. You. Kissed. Her. Yet?"

Sora pursed his lips, glancing away. "Yes," he said quickly, and then immediately followed up with a defensive, "And so what if I have?"

Riku's smirk fell from his face so quickly that Sora suddenly wasn't sure if it had even been there in the first place.

"Uh, Riku?"

"Congrats, then," Riku said abruptly, the brightest and absolutely most _fake_ smile Sora had ever seen plastered across his face.

"Riku…" Sora said doubtfully.

"No, it's fine," Riku said cheerfully, still smiling. "She's your girlfriend, why shouldn't you kiss her?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Sora said sullenly, but Riku ignored him.

"And it's not like I expected you to tell me about it or anything. No worries."

"Hey now, that's not fair!" Sora exclaimed. "You've kissed girls before and never told me!"

"Who have I kissed?" Riku demanded, pushing himself up onto his knees and pinning Sora with a cold glare. At least the fake smile was gone. "I was kind of busy being overcome by the darkness, if you remember. And not that Ansem isn't a good looking guy, but I wasn't exactly attracting a lot of beautiful girls like that."

Sora scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. "Before all that," he said. "What about Rinoa? She's two years older than you and you got her to kiss you!"

"Who?" Riku asked, his brow furrowing, and then he seemed to realize his mistake because his cheeks went light pink. "Oh – um – yeah. Her."

"Wait…" Sora peered at him, and then starting laughing. "That – that never happened, did it?" he said, in between chuckles. "I _knew_ it! I knew you were lying about that! Like she would have ever gone for a scrawny little fourteen-year-old!"

"Sora…" Riku growled.

"Hang on." Sora sat up abruptly, his eyes bright. "Does that mean I got my first kiss _before_ you did?" Riku's frown deepened. "Seriously? Woo-hoo!" he cried, punching the air with his fist. "Finally, something I beat you at!"

"Che," Riku muttered, turning away and laying on his stomach again. "You beat me all the time now, remember?"

"But I never thought I'd beat you with _girls_," Sora crowed, still looking highly amused.

"It's just kissing," Riku grumbled, and then his eyes went wide and he looked quickly at Sora. "Right?"

"Ahaha, um, yeah. Just kissing." Sora held up his hands, grinning. "Promise. She's not very good at it, though," he continued, settling in on his stomach beside Riku.

"Maybe you're the one who's not good at it," Riku said in a deliberately bored tone.

"Nah," Sora said cheerfully. "It's gotta be her. She tried using her tongue this one time-"

"_This one time_?" Riku interrupted, pushing himself to his knees again. "Exactly how many times have you kissed her!"

Sora felt his cheeks warm up again. "A fair amount, I guess…"

Riku snorted. "I thought you didn't want her to be your girlfriend?"

"Well, I didn't say I _like_ her kissing me all the time," Sora said, his nose scrunching up. "Like I said, she's so clingy!"

"Enjoy it," Riku said, grabbing the magazine again and staring down at it without really reading anything. "Some of us don't have girls to paw all over us like you do."

"There are _plenty_ of girls who would paw you if you'd let them," Sora said, rolling his eyes. "You're so cold to them, though."

"They're annoying," Riku said flatly. "I'm not _that_ different from before. They just think I'm some dark, mysterious, _romantic_ guy now because I was gone for over a year. That's the only reason they're interested."

"How come no one's interested in me like that?"

"They were. Kairi scared them off."

"Oh." Sora frowned. "I still think you could get any one of those girls to kiss you, though."

"Maybe I don't want a girl to kiss me," Riku muttered so quietly that Sora wasn't sure he'd heard him correctly.

"What?"

Riku coughed lightly. "I said, what girl would want to kiss me?"

Sora blinked, looking doubtful. "Riku, what girl _wouldn't_?"

"All of them," Riku replied, rolling onto his back and sighing theatrically. "No one will ever kiss me," he bemoaned, throwing an arm over his eyes.

"If you're that desperate, _I'll_ kiss you."

There was a sudden pause, in which Sora clamped a hand over his mouth and wondered what the hell he'd just said.

Riku slowly moved his arm from his face and gave Sora an incredulous look.

"Er – Well, I…well, I would!" Sora stammered, feeling his cheeks burn. "Um…"

"Don't be weird, Sora," Riku said, glancing away.

"It's not weird!" Sora insisted. "I've got experience and you don't – I could teach you!" he said brightly.

Riku laughed shortly. "Sora, I don't think-"

But whatever it was he didn't think he never got to say, because Sora was suddenly straddling his hips and holding his arms above his head, a determined look on his face.

"Sora!" Riku exclaimed, his eyes widening. "What do you think you're doing!"

"You haven't had a first kiss yet," Sora replied, "and quite frankly, my first kisses sucked." He hesitated for a moment, and then plowed on, "So I'm going to kiss you now."

And then he did.

Except it wasn't so much _kissing_ as it was a slamming of their mouths together followed by an awkward pause where they continued staring at each other through wide eyes.

Then all at once Riku seemed to relax, the tension flowing from his muscles and his eyes sliding closed. His back arched a bit, his mouth fell open under Sora's and everything was immediately _so much better_ than it had ever been with Kairi.

Sora moaned and released Riku's wrists so that he could instead bury his hands in the boy's hair. As soon as Riku had use of his limbs, however, he flipped them over so that he was on top and Sora was underneath him. Sora barely registered that they'd changed positions; he only resumed kissing Riku as quickly as he could.

Riku's chest was flat against his, their legs were intertwined, their hips pushed together. It was fantastic, nothing like the uncomfortable feeling of Kairi's soft, curvy body brushing against his. Riku was all hard lines and angles and he was so _sure_ of himself; there was no girly tentativeness about him. Sora arched up, clutching Riku's shoulders, and felt something burn and tingle in his chest that sent shivers all the way down to his curling toes and then back up to his head.

"Riku…" he murmured when they had to tear apart to breathe. Riku was panting above him, peering down at him through his shaggy bangs, and suddenly Sora was aware of just how close they were and what exactly they'd just been doing and, oh God, Riku was his _friend_, what was he thinking!

"Sora," Riku said when Sora's eyes went wide and his face went pale. "What-?"

"I've – I've gotta – I have to go!" Sora squirmed underneath the other boy, desperately trying to get free. He'd probably just ruined everything. It didn't matter that Riku was a better kisser than Kairi. Things like – like – like what they'd been doing just didn't _happen_ on their tiny little island! How would he ever be able to look Riku in the eyes again?

"Go where?" Riku asked, sounding amused. He rested his entire body on top of Sora's, effectively pinning him to the bed, and grinned.

"Home," Sora gasped, pushing in vain at Riku's shoulders.

"You're already home," Riku said. "We're at your house, remember?"

Sora stilled, his face still turned to the side. Riku didn't sound upset… Why wasn't he upset?

"Sora." Riku grasped his chin, turning Sora's face towards his. "It's okay."

It was?

Sora relaxed instantly, staring at Riku.

"It is?" he croaked.

Riku nodded. "Of course."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm always sure," Riku said simply, and then he kissed him again, slower this time, more gently.

"I guess…" Sora mumbled when Riku pulled back. "That was a much better first kiss, at least."

"Wasn't so bad from this end, either," Riku said cheekily. He crossed his arms across Sora's chest, resting his chin on them. "So when are you breaking up with Kairi?"

Yeah, Sora thought as he flicked Riku's nose and laughed at the expression on the boy's face, Riku was a much better kisser than Kairi.

And maybe things wouldn't be so awkward after all.

* * *

Let me know what you think!

-Maxine


	2. Second Kisses

Second Kisses

disclaimer - don't own it.

warnings - possible KH2 spoilers!

* * *

If there was one thing Sora hadn't missed while he'd been off defeating the Heartless and Maleficent and Ansem and the Nobodies and Organization XIII and – right. Long story short, if there was one thing he hadn't missed while he'd been off saving the proverbial "world" in general, it was his parents.

Actually, that was a lie. There had been times when he'd missed his mother so much it had been almost painful, times when he wanted nothing more then to be held in her protective embrace, and nothing Donald or Goofy could say would get him out of his funk. There had been times when things seemed utterly hopeless, when he'd thought there was no chance he'd ever actually find Riku, and all he wanted was some reassuring words from his father, a cuff to the back of his head and a deep, rumbling voice telling him it would all work out in the end.

No, if he wanted to be more accurate, the one thing he hadn't missed while he'd been away was _doing chores_. And that, by proxy, somehow equaled his parents. Especially when said parents tried to wake him up far too early on the weekends to do said chores.

BANG BANG BANG

Like today, for example. Someone was banging on his door. It couldn't possibly be morning yet, why was somebody bothering him already?

"Sora!"

BANG BANG BANG

"Sora, get up! It's nearly eleven o'clock, you're not sleeping away the whole day again!"

BANG BANG BANG

"SORA!"

"Alright, alright!" Sora moaned, flipping onto his back and throwing an arm across his face. "I'll be up in a minute, mom."

"If you're not out of bed in five minutes, I'm coming in there!" Sora's mother warned.

And then came the dreaded words.

"You have chores to do, young man, don't think you're getting out of them today."

Sora groaned again, and figured he might as well make an effort to get up. He managed to untangle his legs from his sheets and kick the blanket off, but that was about as far as he got before he decided moving too much in the morning just wasn't worth it.

Sighing, he stared up at the faded plastic stars that still decorated his ceiling, relics from a childhood that seemed decades past.

"Sora, are you up yet?"

"_Yes!_" Sora snapped. "Leave me alone already, I'll be right out!"

He sighed again, tugging off his shirt and tossing it onto a pile of questionably clean but most likely dirty clothes on the ground.

He wondered what Riku was doing today.

& & & &

It had never occurred to Sora that he'd one day be trading in his keyblade for a feather duster.

"And when you're done dusting the dining room, you need to vacuum the living room," he mimicked to himself, scrunching up his nose as he brushed halfheartedly at the glass figurines his mother loved to collect. "Scrub the terrace, sweep the halls and the stairs, clean the chimney-"

"What are you muttering about now?" his mother asked, walking through the room with a basket full of clean laundry in her arms. "Honestly, Sora, I ask you to do two things to help me out – and I'm pretty sure _scrubbing the terrace_ wasn't one of them – and you mope and whine about it all afternoon."

"Because it's _nice_ out," Sora said petulantly. "And you've got me stuck inside all day when I _could_ be out at the island with Riku and-"

"You wouldn't be inside all day if you did what I asked _when _I asked you to, instead of putting up such a big fuss about it."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Don't use that tone of voice with me-" The phone rang before she could finish reprimanding him, and she left the room with a roll of her eyes, propping the laundry basket up on one hip.

Sora grumbled some more as he turned back to his job, kicking his voice up a couple of notches and squeaking out, "Don't use that tone of voice with me, young man! I've got Ansem's number on speed dial; I can have him over here in a second to whip some manners into your ass-"

"Sora!"

Sora's eyes flew open and he made a startled sort of squawking sound as he spun around, holding the feather duster up to his temple in a mock salute. "Yes ma'am!"

His mother grinned almost reluctantly, waggling the phone at him. "Telephone," she said simply.

"Oh," he said, shoulder's sagging in relief.

"It's Riku."

"Oh!"

Sora was at her side in a second, feather duster forgotten, and he snatched the phone from her before she could say anything else.

"Riku!" he bellowed into the phone. "God, you _have_ to save me! You wouldn't believe what my mom has me doing-"

"Hello to you, too," Riku interrupted dryly. Sora could almost _hear_ him rolling his eyes. "What're you doing?"

"_Chores_," Sora spat. "I'm cleaning. You'd think most people would be grateful when you come back home after saving the world – no, multiple worlds, the _universe_ even! But what does my mom do? She hands me the vacuum!"

"Sora, that was months ago," Riku said, chuckling. "When do you think you'll be done?"

Sora shifted a glance toward his mom, but she was already shaking her head.

"You'll be done when you're done," she said simply.

Sora cringed. "Save me, Riku!" he groaned into the phone.

"Suck it up," Riku said helpfully. "I did all my chores already. Then again not all of us sleep till noon like you do."

"Oh, thanks a lot," Sora said. "That's just what I wanted to hear. Really."

"Tell Prince Charming his can come over for dinner," Sora's mother said, holding out her hand as an indicator for Sora to wrap up the conversation. "Because at the rate you're going, you won't be finished until then."

Sora frowned. "Mom says you can come over for dinner," he muttered.

"Did she just call me Prince Charming?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sora said loftily.

"Whatever. I'm coming over in an hour, so you'd better be finished by then!"

"Sure, sure. An hour. Gotcha. Gotta go!"

"See ya."

"He's coming over in an hour," Sora said, handing the phone back to his mom.

"You'd better hurry up then."

Sora groaned.

God, he hated chores.

& & & &

For most of the world, when a person is annoyed there are several signs they employ that help make their mood more obvious. Crossed arms, furrowed brow, pursed lips. These sorts of things often serve the purpose of setting warning bells off in the heads of everyone in the general vicinity.

So when Kairi showed up on his front steps that afternoon sporting not one, not two, but all three of the aforementioned signs, Sora knew this particular visit was not off to a good start.

Plus she was tapping her foot, which meant that she wasn't _just_ annoyed with him, but very, _very_ annoyed. Very, very annoyed, as in reduced to standing on his front porch with crossed arms, a furrowed brow, pursed lips, and a tapping foot, annoyed. That had to be, like, The Ultimate Case of annoyance.

And Sora just happened to be the target.

Lovely.

"Uh… Hi, Kairi," he said nervously, and then promptly winced when she pulled out yet another sign from the How To Tell A Person Is Annoyed With You book and _glared_ at him.

"Uh, hi, Sora," she said sarcastically, uncrossing her arms and instead propping her fists up onto her hips.

"Erm… Is this important?" Sora asked, glancing back into the house. "Because I've got chores to finish and Riku's going to be here soon and-"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Kairi said slowly, still tapping her foot. "Wouldn't want to get in your way when _Riku's_ here. I mean, I'm not your _girlfriend_ or anything!"

Sora sighed. "Kairi…"

"You've been avoiding me, Sora."

Sora blinked, his eyes going wide. "What – I have _not_!"

"Oh yeah?" Kairi snorted lightly. "Then how is it that even though we're in all the same classes, I haven't spoken to you all week? And how is it that even though you haven't missed a day of school and you're perfectly fine when you're playing blitzball with Tidus, you're somehow _sick_ every time I call? Don't lie to me, Sora!"

"I'm not…_avoiding_ you, Kairi," Sora said, scuffing his foot and looking at anything in the nearby vicinity that _wasn't _Kairi. "I just…" He chewed on his bottom lip slightly.

It took a few seconds, but Kairi finally sighed, dropping her arms and stilling her foot. She turned and plopped down onto the steps leading up to Sora's house. "Are you breaking up with me?" she asked softly.

Sora shifted his weight from foot to foot, feeling out of place for some reason. "I can't break up with you when I never asked you out in the first place," he pointed out finally, sitting down beside her.

Kairi frowned. "I wish you would have said something. I mean, I knew you never really liked it, but you kept going along with it so I didn't try to stop anything. I guess I thought you would warm up to the idea…"

"Kairi, you're one of my best friends. I'd kind of like to keep it that way."

"So…you _are_ breaking up with me." It wasn't a question.

Sora nodded. "Yeah. I guess I am."

Kairi chuckled, but there wasn't much humor in it. "You're lucky I came over, then. The way you were handling things, we'd have been married with kids before you finally spoke up."

Sora scratched the back of his sheepishly, grinning. "I didn't know how to tell you! Riku told me to just confront you…but you took care of that, so I guess I don't need to now, heh."

"Riku, Riku, Riku," Kairi said, propping her chin up wither hands. "If he wasn't a boy, I might be worried."

"Er…" Shit. Sora felt his cheeks burn and he tried to casually turn away, praying Kairi didn't look over at him anytime soon.

"…Or maybe I should be worried anyway," Kairi said, her eyes widening a bit as she did, indeed, glance at him. "Sora!"

Dammit! Crap crap crap!

"What?" he asked quickly. Play it cool, right? Just pretend nothing unusual was happening.

"Don't _what_ me! What's going on? Spill it!"

"I don't – There's nothing to spill, you're – you're _imagining_ things!"

"Oh yeah?" Kairi asked doubtfully. "Am I? Selphie asked me the other day if I was alright with you hanging out with him all the time-"

"He's my best friend! I don't need your permission! And anyway, it's none of your business if I want to hang out with him-"

"It's my business if you were cheating on me!" Kairi interrupted.

Sora spluttered. "I – I wasn't – No! I wasn't _cheating_ on you; we were never really going out so you can't count it-"

"Oh my God!" Kairi screeched, flying onto her feet. Sora frowned, and then realized an infinity too late that he'd probably just condemned himself. "You – you and – and _Riku_? What…what…"

"No, Kairi, I…" _Shit!_ Sora tried to keep from panicking. There had to be some way to salvage this. "Look, Kairi, it was just a one-time thing, nothing _happened_. Well, I mean, we kissed, but nothing _else_ happened!" There, that should do it.

Wait.

Kairi turned slowly, giving Sora a bug-eyed look. "You…you _kissed_? You and Riku? _Really_?"

Sora hesitated. "I… Yes?" Kairi continued staring at him. "Please don't hurt me," he added quickly.

"Oh, shut up," Kairi said offhandedly. "I can't… You guys really…? But – but Riku seems like such a – a – a… Well. He's always… Well, okay, he hasn't actually had a girlfriend in…well, never. But. I mean." She looked at Sora, who shrugged helplessly.

"I started it?" he offered helplessly.

Kairi blinked. "You did?"

"Um, sort of. You have to understand the situation. I was just making fun of him because he'd never kissed anyone, and then-"

"Wait, he's _never kissed anyone_?" Kairi repeated.

"Well, he has now," Sora pointed out.

"You."

"Yes."

"Did you…like it?"

"Huh?" Sora could feel his face coloring again. "Well, I mean I guess…"

"Did he like it?"

"Um… I said I started it but he…_continued_ it."

"Oh my God."

"Kairi…" Sora winced. "Look, it only happened last weekend, and nothing's happened since. We've barely even talked about it again."

"Do you _want_ something else to happen?"

"What?"

"It's just…you sounded so dejected right then."

Sora's brow furrowed. "I…I did?" Kairi nodded, staring thoughtfully at him. Sora rubbed his neck. "Well…_maybe_…"

Kairi propped her fists up on her hips again, tilting her head to the side a bit. "So, you're gay now?" she asked curiously.

Sora's eyes went wide. "I – _what?_ No, I'm not…_gay_. That's – I mean – _no_," he spluttered.

Kairi blinked. "But you kissed Riku."

"Well…yeah, but-"

"And you liked it."

"I…yes, but still-"

"So you're gay."

"No! Kairi, he's my best friend!" Sora exclaimed.

"Who you liked kissing," Kairi reminded him.

"That doesn't mean I'm _gay_!"

"Riku's a boy, isn't he?"

"Yes…"

"And you liked kissing him, right?"

"…Yes…"

"Well, generally, when one boy enjoys kissing another boy, he's often referred to as _gay_," Kairi pointed out. Sora moaned, hunching over and burying his face in his hands. Kairi patted him sympathetically on the back. "Not that it's a bad thing," she added. "I still like you. Mostly. I'm a little bit annoyed at the moment, but I'm sure it will pass."

"_Kairi!_"

"Well it's not my fault you decided to have a sexual identity crisis right in the middle of our relationship!"

Sora threaded his fingers into his hair, gripping tight. "But…that doesn't make sense! I can't be…_that_. I don't like boys, I-"

"You just like Riku," Kairi finished for him.

"No…" Sora said uncertainly. Did he? He'd never really thought about it before. Of course he _liked_ him. That was sort of a requirement of the whole 'best friends' thing. But…as something more?

Kairi sighed, sitting down beside her friend again. "Look, Sora. It's not…well, there's not really anything _wrong_ with it. At least, _I_ don't think so. Others… Well. You're still my friend, and you always will be. You and Riku mean more than the world to me, so if that's what's going to make you happy…" She paused, looking up and giving him a soft smile. "I want you to be happy, Sora."

Sora's brow furrowed and he continued staring at the ground. "This is so weird," he said after a minute, gritting his teeth and tightening his hands. "I – I can't…" His breath hitched in his chest.

Kairi patted his knee a couple times, and then let her hand rest there. "You'll be alright."

"My dad would kill me."

"Not if Riku's dad kills you first."

Sora groaned.

"Who's my dad killing?"

Sora's head jerked up and he felt Kairi's hand fall from his knee. "Riku!"

"Yo," Riku said, holding up a hand and grinning. "What's up?"

Neither Kairi nor Sora replied; they only sat there staring at the other boy, Sora with eyes wide open and cheeks red, and Kairi with a narrowed, more thoughtful look.

Riku couldn't help fidgeting after a moment. "What?" he asked warily.

"Uh…" Sora said helplessly.

Kairi grinned. "Sora and I just broke up," she said simply, standing and brushing the invisible dirt off her skirt.

Riku blinked. "Really?"

"You don't have to sound so excited," Kairi said, snorting lightly. She crossed her arms and lifted her chin a bit. "Sora's interested in someone else, so I let him off the hook."

"Kairi!"

Riku frowned. "Oh yeah?" he asked, his brow furrowing. He glanced at Sora. "He didn't tell me. Then again he doesn't tell me a lot of things, nowadays."

Sora stood up, hands closing into fists at his sides. "That's not true-"

"Well, apparently he's found other things to do with his mouth besides _talking_," Kairi said flippantly.

Riku opened his mouth to say something but was brought to a sudden halt. He blinked a couple of times before shifting his eyes to Sora.

"Um." Sora put a hand behind his head, laughing in a very loud and completely phony way. "Uhh, I have absolutely no idea what she's talking about!" he exclaimed. His flushed cheeks gave him away, though.

Riku swallowed. "Did you…?" He glanced at Kairi, who smiled widely. If it had been in any other situation, Sora would have laughed at the way Riku's face was slowly going pink.

"Well, I really must be going now," Kairi said cheerfully, stepping onto the path. "Lovely talking to you both."

"Bye," Sora said distractedly, eyes still on Riku who was beginning to tense up and clench his jaw and make fists out of his hands.

"Oh, Sora." Kairi turned and walked backwards as she spoke. "I need some help with that calc assignment whenever you get the chance."

"Yeah, sure."

"I'll call you. Bye!"

Riku didn't say anything until she'd disappeared around the bend. "Thought you hated calc?" he finally said, not a little bit tersely.

"Huh? Oh. I do." Sora scratched the back of his head, frowning in the direction Kairi had gone. "That's weird; I wonder why she asked _me_ for help."

Riku gritted his teeth. "Sora!"

"What?"

"Did you tell her?"

"Tell her… Oh!" Sora blinked, backing up a step. "Ahaha, about that…"

"_Sora!_"

"It might have accidentally slipped out," Sora said, looking shifty-eyed. "I told her you'd never kissed anyone before-"

"What!"

"And then I told her what happened with, you know, you and me-"

"_What!_"

"She seemed pretty shocked."

"You told her I kissed you!"

"Shhhhh!" Sora said frantically, lunging towards Riku and clamping a hand over his mouth. "Shut up shut up shut up! What if someone hears you?" Riku's cheeks went an even deeper pink under Sora's hand, but Sora didn't notice. "And anyway, I kissed _you_, not the other way around."

Riku rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything as his mouth was still under the assault of Sora's hand.

"Come on," Sora said after a minute or so had passed and no angry parents wielding pitchforks had come jumping out of the bushes. They crept silently pass the kitchen so that his mom wouldn't hear them, and then rushed up the stairs. Sora let the door shut softly behind him, and leaned back against it with a huge sigh of relief.

"Where's your dad?" Riku asked when the silence got to be too much.

"Out fishing with _your_ dad, isn't he?" Sora asked. He frowned. "No, wait, maybe he's with Wakka's dad today. Who knows."

Riku shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets and glaring at the ground.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked, brow furrowing.

Riku snorted. "What's wrong?" he repeated skeptically. "_What's wrong?_ I can't believe you told her!"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Riku."

"Was it any of her business?"

"Seeing as how she was sort of my girlfriend at the time, yeah, I'd say it was."

"Weren't you the one who kept insisting she _wasn't_ your girlfriend?"

"Geez, Riku! It's just Kairi, what're you so embarrassed about?"

"I'm not embarrassed!" Riku said, immediately on the defensive despite the way his face went pink again.

Sora grinned. "Yeah, you are."

"Well. Well, I don't see why you had to tell her, is all," Riku said sullenly. He sat down cross-legged on Sora's bed, propping an elbow up on his knee and resting his chin on his fist.

"Oy, get your shoes off the bed! My mom will throw a fit if she sees you like that!" Sora exclaimed, moving towards him.

"Che," Riku muttered. "Your mom loves me, she wouldn't care." He kicked his shoes off anyway and then threw himself onto his back, crossing his arms behind his head. "When are you going to take those stupid stars down?"

Sora looked up at his ceiling. "We used that rubber cement stuff to put them up there, remember? I doubt they're coming down anytime soon." He glanced back at Riku, and then before he could change his mind he was climbing on top of him, one leg thrown on either side of the other boy's hips.

"Sora!" Riku said, startled. "What-"

"Why are you acting so funny about this?" Sora demanded, crossing his arms.

Riku shifted his gaze to the side. "It's weird, isn't it?"

Sora rolled his eyes. He leaned forward and pulled Riku's hands out from underneath him, instead pinning his wrists above his head, and shoved his face so close to Riku's that their noses were practically touching. "Weren't you the one who said it was okay?"

"It was okay until other people found out about it!"

"It's not _other people_, Riku! It's Kairi! It's not like I told _Selphie_ or something!"

Riku was breathing heavily now, eyes narrowed on Sora. "You were the one freaking out last time," he said softly. "What changed your mind?"

"I don't know," Sora said simply. "I just…" His gaze lowered, landing instead on Riku's mouth.

"You want to do it again, don't you?" Riku sounded amused.

Sora snorted. "Are you telling me you don't?"

There was a sudden flurry of motion as Riku sat up, keeping his arms above his head so that Sora ended up pressed flat against his chest. "I wouldn't mind it," he said, smirking.

Sora ran his tongue over his lips before tugging the bottom one into his mouth in an attempt to stifle his giggles as Riku slowly pushed him back against the bed.

"Are we really going to do this?" Riku asked after a moment, tucking a strand of hair that had come loose from his ponytail behind his ear.

"I think so." Sora grinned.

"Wakka's going to give me so much shit about it," Riku said, laughing a bit breathlessly. "He's been trying to get me to go out with this one girl in our class."

Sora tugged one hand free from Riku's grasp and grabbed the front of his shirt instead. "She can't have you," he said. "After everything I went through to get you back – you're _mine_."

Riku's eyes widened. "Sora…"

Sora just tugged him closer so that their noses were touching again.

They stayed like that for a moment, then Riku swallowed and Sora burst out laughing.

"Why are you so nervous?" he asked through his giggles.

"I'm not _nervous_!" Riku spluttered.

"It's not like we haven't done this before."

"It was only the one time and that was _different_."

"How was it different?"

"It – You – It just was!"

"Because I kissed you first?" Sora asked. He grinned widely when Riku pursed his lips, watching as his cheeks went pink. "Bingo! Thought so. Heh, well, I can do that again." And then he pulled Riku down to meet him, still grinning against the other's boys lips when they met.

Riku made a muffled sound of protest, but Sora didn't let him go. He didn't put up much of a fight for long, and soon enough he was relaxing into the kiss again, tentatively opening his mouth against Sora's and letting their tongues meet. Sora moaned contently and let the hand wrapped around Riku's shirt loosen and slip underneath the shirt instead. He could feel the way Riku's stomach tightened, could feel the slight shudders running through him. His hand trailed down until he was fingering the top of Riku's jeans.

Riku suddenly went still.

"Sora…" he said softly.

Sora's fingers dipped beneath his waistband, and he began fiddling with the button. Riku's eyes widened and he sucked his stomach in. "What?" Sora asked.

"What're you doing?"

Sora shrugged. "Kairi tried to do this to me once, but I sort of panicked and ran out of her house."

"Tried to – wait – what?"

Sora unclasped the snap. Riku blinked. Twice. Sora smirked. "What do you think?"

"I thought you said you'd only kissed?" Riku asked steadily, eyes focused somewhere on the quilt beside Sora's ear.

"We did. Well. Plus maybe a teeeeny bit of fondling," Sora said, holding up his free hand and bringing his thumb and forefinger very close together. "Mostly on her part."

"Then…what-"

"I'm sixteen, Riku, you think I don't know what goes on in the bedroom?"

"No, that's not…"

Grinning, Sora slowly lowered the zipper.

"You – you can't be serious," Riku said, twisting Sora's bed sheets in his grasp.

Sora hummed thoughtfully, chewing lightly on his bottom lip again.

And then footsteps sounded on the staircase leading up to Sora's room.

"Shit!" Riku exclaimed, his eyes going wide as he tore himself away from Sora, hands flying to his crotch to redo his jeans.

Sora started laughing at the look on Riku's face, but then his door opened rather forcefully, nearly giving him a heart attack. He squawked, rolling away from Riku and therefore off the bed, falling onto his knees and jerking his panicked gaze up to see who it was.

"Sora, I certainly hope you don't consider the living room a job well done, because it doesn't even look like you started in there!" his mother was saying as she dropping a basket of clean clothes on his floor. "The vacuum is right where I left it. And look at the mess in here! How many times do I have to tell you to keep your clean clothes _in_ the closet – Oh!" She glanced up, finally spotting Riku kneeling awkwardly on the bed while her son stared up at her from the floor. "Riku, I didn't even realize you were here yet." She narrowed her eyes at Sora. "_Somebody_ didn't bother to tell me."

"H-he's only been here for a few minutes, mom," Sora said shakily, pushing some hair out of his eyes. "We were going to come down…"

"Sorry I didn't stop in," Riku said. Sora hoped his mom didn't notice how red Riku's face was. "Sora said he had something to show me."

His mother nodded. "Just wanted to get out of the rest of his chores, no doubt." She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Well it's not happening. I expect the living room to be dusted and vacuumed before dinner, you understand me?" She leveled a glare on Sora, smiled cheerfully at Riku, and then left the room, shutting the door softly behind her.

Sora frowned. Chores, chores, chores. _God_, he hated-

Riku put a hand on Sora's head, messing up his already tousled hair. Sora looked up to find Riku grinning down at him.

"Come on," he said, walking towards the door. "I'll help you out. And then after dinner we can go to the island. Maybe no one will be there."

"Riku…"

"I'm not dusting, though. I hate dusting." Riku turned at the door, glancing back at him. "Well come on, what are you waiting for?"

Sora grinned and stood up. "Right, right. Coming."

Well, maybe chores weren't really so bad, now that he thought about it.

But only if you had someone splitting the work with you.

**FIN**

* * *

H'okay, so I lied. There might possibly be more to this series. ;)

-Maxine


	3. Coming Out

Coming Out

disclaimer - don't own it.

warnings - possible KH2 spoilers!

* * *

It was Monday again. Inevitably. Unfortunately, no matter how much one begged, it was rather difficult to get time to comply and completely bypass spans of twenty-four hours.

Sora hated Mondays. There was nothing good about them; they only signified the beginning of another long week. A long week of school, of homework, of not seeing Riku as much as he could…

He sighed, letting his head fall forward to bang lightly off the door of his locker. Mondays also started off with physics, and he hated physics. Who wanted to be doing serious mental calculations that early in the morning? Honestly, he didn't _care_ how the light switches in his house worked, just so long as they actually worked.

Though, it could be worse. He could have calculus first period.

"Soooora!" a cheerful said from behind him. Sora made a vain attempt at pretending he hadn't heard, but when someone started tapping his shoulder he had to turn around.

"Hi, Selphie," Sora said wearily, closing his locker and leaning back against the door. He tugged at the collar of his uniform, absently wishing he could just take the damn tie off. Normally he would, but he'd been told that if he was caught out of uniform one more time, _drastic measures_ would be taken. Sora had no idea what these 'drastic measures' were, but he wasn't exactly keen on finding out.

Selphie grinned at him. No, grinning wasn't the appropriate term here; she was positively _beaming_. "Have a good weekend?" she asked, adjusting the strap of her bag across her shoulder.

Sora shrugged. "It was alright." He and Riku had ended up staying in after dinner on Saturday rather than going to the island because Sora's father had shown up and decided to give them a two-hour demonstration on the proper way to clean and cut a fish. Like they didn't know how to do that already; they'd only been fishing since they were _four and five years old_. And then he hadn't seen Riku at all yesterday, so yeah, _alright_ just about summed it up.

"I heard you and Kairi broke up."

"She already told you?" Sora asked.

Selphie giggled. "Well, she had to tell somebody, didn't she? And guess what?" She leaned forward, still grinning, and tapped Sora's chest as she spoke. "That's not _all_ she told me."

Sora blinked, feeling confused for a second, and then his eyes went wide as saucers. "She didn't!" he said, a desperate edge to his voice. He could feel his face turning red.

Selphie winked at him.

"No!" Sora said quickly. "No, no, no! _Selphie!_ Kairi wasn't supposed to tell anybody! Aw man, Riku's gonna kill me!" He pushed his hands into his hair, trying to ignore the urge to just tear it all out.

Selphie's eyes widened and, if possible, her smile got even bigger. "So it's true then? You and Riku-"

"Shhhhhh!" Sora interrupted frantically, waving his hands. "Not a word! Selphie, you have to _swear_ you won't say anything!"

"I already swore to Kairi," Selphie said, rolling her eyes. "You think I'd spread this around?"

"Kairi apparently did!"

Selphie scoffed. "Please. The only person she told was me."

"Well she wasn't supposed to!"

"Did you _tell_ her not to tell me?"

"I – what?" Sora blinked. "Well…no. I guess not…_specifically_. But still!"

"Don't worry about it, Sora," Selphie said, patting him on the shoulder. "I'm not going to tell anyone."

"Promise?" Sora asked, feeling slightly helpless. Selphie knew how to keep secrets if it was something important, Sora knew that, but sometimes you just couldn't tell with this girl.

Selphie grinned again, holding up two fingers in the shape of a 'V.' "Scout's honor!" she chirped.

Sora's shoulder slumped. "You're _not_ a boy scout," he muttered, turning to let his head bang against the locker again.

"There is one _teeny_, _tiny_ problem, though."

Sora paused. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. See…" Selphie giggled again, but she sounded slightly nervous this time.

Sora turned very slowly to face her. "What?"

"We were at Frenchy's when Kairi told me, and…"

Frenchy's was the ice cream parlor downtown that Sora and his friends often frequented. It was owned by this little old lady who had way too much bright, obviously dyed, frizzy red hair, which she kept pinned up in a haphazard sort of bun on the top of her head. She loved them all, but Sora and Tidus especially. Tidus in particular was always hanging around and getting free samples-

Oh.

Oh, _hell_ no.

Sora closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Please tell me that Tidus was not lurking around when Kairi told you."

"Um…"

"Tell me that Tidus didn't hear!"

"Well, I would." Selphie shrugged sheepishly. "But then I'd be lying."

Sora gritted his teeth, pressed his fist against his mouth, and took another breath.

"Sora…"

Ignoring her, Sora turned and stomped off towards his homeroom. The bell wouldn't be ringing for a couple of minutes, but if he knew his friend, she'd already be in the classroom by now.

He wasn't wrong.

"KAIRI!"

&&&&

First period was such a bore. Riku would never understand why they had to take chemistry again. Sure it was _AP _chem, but as far as he was concerned, it was basically a repeat of everything he'd learned three years ago. Same teacher, same book, a lot of the same experiments…

And the classroom was _always_ hot.

He supposed he should consider himself lucky. Technically he should be taking Physics this year, having missed it due to the entire Heartless ordeal, but due to the…er, _extenuating_ _circumstances_, the school had let him skip it

Riku trudged into the classroom and dumped his bag onto the floor by his table, and then immediately went about cooling himself off. He loosened his tie, undoing the top two buttons of his shirt while he was at it, and pushed his sleeves up past his elbows. He'd have to straighten it all up again when the period was over, but the chemistry teacher knew how hot her classroom was and didn't seem to mind the students stripping down.

"Hey, Riku," Wakka said as he ambled over, dumping his bag beside Riku's. His shirt was already unbuttoned all the way down so that the wifebeater tank top beneath it showed, and his tie was draped around his neck, the ends dangling.

"Wakka," Riku returned, gathering up his hair and wrapping an elastic band around it. The bits that were too short for a ponytail fell into his eyes, and he blew upwards without really thinking about it. He was used to it now.

"Man, it's like a frickin' sauna in here, ya?"

Riku slouched over, resting his chin in his hands, and sighed. "Every day," he said simply.

"Sheesh. Almost makes me want winter to get here already, you know?" Wakka said, waving his shirt a bit as if to form some sort of breeze.

"Why?" Riku snorted. "Then they'll just turn on the heat and it'll get even hotter."

"Oy. Good point." He dragged his arm across his forehead. "Oh, hey. I got that new fighting game. The one we were looking at last week, remember?"

Riku looked up. "Is it any good?"

Wakka shrugged. "S'not bad so far. Me and Tidus were playing yesterday." He smirked. "Whooped his butt, as usual."

Riku laughed. "Not like that's hard." He leaned over the side of the table, searching through his bag for his chemistry book.

"True. It's a decent game, though. You should come over."

Finding the textbook, he began to sit back up again. "Today?"

"Whenever. Oh, by the way. Heard about you 'n Sora."

Riku, who had felt like he was still half asleep due to the hazy heat of the classroom, bolted upright at these words, the chemistry book falling from his suddenly numb fingers and landing with a loud _thunk_ on the ground again. He stared at Wakka with impossibly wide eyes, and then all too late tried to school his expression back into something relatively normal again. It was hard when one's face felt like it was on fire, though.

"I-I'm sorry?" he asked, cursing himself for stuttering.

Wakka glanced at him, apparently having found nothing out of the ordinary about what he'd just said. "Tidus told me."

"_Tidus?_" Riku repeated, trying to quell the burgeoning panicked feeling in his chest. "Wait, told you – told you... Wait, _what?_"

Wakka grinned. "What's with that look?"

Riku took several deep breaths, ducking beneath the table to grab his book and to give himself a couple of seconds to calm down. He reemerged only slightly better. Maybe he was misunderstanding what Wakka had said.

"What did Tidus tell you?" he asked apprehensively.

Wakka blinked. "About you 'n Sora," he repeated.

Riku swallowed, glancing furtively around the classroom to make sure no one else was listening. "Me and Sora…what?"

"Is the heat getting to ya?" Wakka asked. "What do you think? He told me Sora an' Kairi broke up." He waved his hand randomly. "And then…you know."

"No, I don't!" Riku said, his voice rising alarmingly. Then he winced, glancing around again, and grasped the edge of the table tightly.

Wakka raised an eyebrow as him. "Riku. Man. Chill," he said, staring at him straight in the eyes. Riku stared back, and Wakka let his second eyebrow join the first, giving him a _look_. It was only when Riku felt his cheeks starting to warm up again that Wakka pulled back, grinning. "You know what I'm talking about."

Riku bit down on the urge to scream.

"How does Tidus know?"

Wakka shrugged. "Think he said he overheard Selphie?"

Oh, great. Fucking _wonderful_. If Selphie knew, then the whole world would soon know.

Riku hunched over the table, digging his hands into his hair. "How does _Selphie_ know?" he asked, knowing that he was teetering on the edge of hysteria. He was going to _kill_ Sora. That boy was _so_ dead.

"Kairi probably told her." Wakka glanced at Riku, who was busy having a minor panic attack on his side of the table. "Look, man, we all would have found out anyway, ya? Sora would've spilled the beans eventually."

"But we're not… It's not even…" What? Serious? _Official_? Were they official? Were they actually planning on being…_whatever_ to each other? Why was Wakka being so casual about the whole thing? "Don't you care?" Riku finally settled on asking.

Wakka was flipping absently through the pages of his textbook. "Can't say I'm surprised, actually. Saw it coming, you know?"

Okay, that floored him. "What? How?"

"Well, with you more than Sora. It's always been obvious with you."

Riku's jaw dropped. "_What?_"

Wakka shrugged. "It was obvious," he repeated.

"It was _not_. I'm not – It's not – _What's_ obvious, exactly?"

"That you like Sor-"

"Okay, okay, okay," Riku interrupted, looking around frantically again. "Stop saying it so loud."

"Only when you stop freaking out."

Riku groaned, falling forward and burying his face in his arms. "This sucks," he said, voice muffled.

"Buck up," Wakka said, grinning. "Teacher's here."

&&&&

"I still can't believe you told her," Sora groused, walking beside Kairi later that day. "It was none of her business."

Kairi rolled her eyes. "She's not going to tell anybody."

"_She told Tidus_!"

"She didn't _tell_ him, he just…overheard!"

"I haven't been able to look him in the eyes the whole day," Sora said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Every time I see him coming, I run the other direction. I haven't talked to him at all." Which was an impressive feat, actually, considering they had half their classes together. "God, and what if he told Wakka? Wakka is in all of Riku's classes, he probably said something!"

"Why are you worrying so much about Riku's reaction?" Kairi asked. "You don't seem to mind that other people know."

Sora shrugged. "Why should I care what other people think? Besides, it's not like anyone important knows yet."

"Oh, thanks."

"I mean, it's not like I told my _parents_." Sora shuddered.

Kairi sighed. "Well, I think you're worried over nothing. Riku probably feels the same way you do."

"_SORA!_"

Sora froze, his eyes going wide. "Same way I do, huh?" he said, giving Kairi a dirty look.

"Sora, you little punk! Where the hell are you!"

Sora winced. "You never saw me," he told Kairi, before he took off running down the hill.

Kairi shook her head, amused, and watched as Riku rounded the corner. He didn't actually look pissed, Kairi realized. He looked more embarrassed than anything. Though that possibly had something to do with the fact that Tidus was currently bouncing along beside him, chattering away aimlessly.

"Where is he?" Riku demanded, storming up to Kairi.

Kairi pointed down the path.

"Thanks," Riku said gruffly. "I've got some things to say to you, too, but it'll have to wait."

"Oh, don't hold back on my account," Kairi said, grinning.

Riku frowned at her.

"I still think it's great that you found your soul mate already, Riku," Tidus spoke up, grinning. "You're so lucky. Sora must be really excited. I wonder if I'm ever going to find _my_ soul-"

"Tidus," Riku interrupted, glaring at him. "Shut up."

Tidus pouted. "But I haven't gotten to talk to Sora all day so I haven't congratulated him yet, but you're here so I wanted to congratulate _you_-"

"Tidus!" Riku cut in again. "He's not my soul mate! And stop announcing it to the world, would you?"

"Stop announcing that he's _not_ your soul mate?" Tidus said, arching an eyebrow. He smirked. "Have you two shared a paopu fruit yet?"

Riku grimaced and clenched his fists.

Tidus backed off immediately, chuckling nervously. "Ahaha, I'm just kidding, Riku, I swear! Just playin' around, you know how it is. Heh."

Riku ignored him and turned to Kairi instead. "Don't let him follow me," he grumbled, and then he sprinted off down the path Sora had taken.

Kairi sighed and rolled her eyes. "Boys," she muttered.

"He's so easy to annoy," Tidus said, grinning. "Just wait till I finally corner Sora!"

&&&&

"Sora, slow down!"

"NEVER!"

"_Sora!_"

"You'll never catch me, Riku!" Unfortunately, this wasn't actually true. Sora cursed his decision to escape to the island, because Riku – _damn him_ – had always been the stronger rower of the two of them, and thus he was quickly catching up. Sora waited until he could see the pale sand underneath the clear blue water, and then he jumped ship and swam as fast as he could to shore.

"What the hell are you doing?" Riku yelled. "Your mom's going to kill you for getting your uniform dirty, and I am _not_ taking the blame this time!"

Oh crap.

Well…whatever.

Sora stumbled onto the beach, unbuttoning his shirt as he went. He shook it off his shoulders and then attacked the zipper of his pants. He tried to get his shoes off next, hopping around on one leg and pulling at his waterlogged loafer with his hands, but the sand gave way beneath him and he ended up on his back, grumbling to himself as he worked at the knots in the laces.

Eventually he managed to tug the shoes off and shimmy out of his pants, leaving him in nothing but his undershirt and boxers.

"Ahh, freedom!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms above his head. Then he abruptly remembered _why_ he was at the island in the first place, and he was on his feet in a flash, looking towards the dock.

Riku's boat was already there.

"Yo."

"Gah!" Sora jumped, turning around and finding Riku standing there, arms crossed. "Geez, don't scare me like that, Riku!"

Riku cocked his head to the side, arching his eyebrows. "Thought you were running away from me?"

Sora's brow furrowed. "Oh yeah…" he murmured. He jumped back, crouching into a low stance, and summoned his keyblade. "Come on, then! I know you're mad. You can take it out on me like this."

Riku's eyes went wide. "What – _Sora!_"

"Come on!"

"Sora, I'm not going to – Whoa, hey, watch it!" Riku exclaimed, stumbling back when Sora thrust the keyblade at his nose.

"You're mad, right?"

Riku floundered. "I'm – I'm not _that_ mad…"

"Then _come on!_" Sora repeated, swinging his keyblade. "We haven't dueled in awhile anyway; I could use the practice."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said, sighing. "Give me a second." He tossed his bag onto the ground and began undoing the buttons on his own shirt. "We should have stopped off at home first. If you hadn't _run away_ from me…"

"I thought you were going to kill me," Sora said absently, his eyes busy following the movements of Riku's hands as they undid each button.

"Look, it was more of a shock than anything else," Riku said, scowling. He slipped his shirt off his shoulders and folded it carefully, oblivious to the way Sora was staring at him, transfixed. "I'm still not even sure what we're doing and for all of our friends to already _know_…" He snorted lightly. "I feel like they know more than _I_ do."

"Well, it's not _my_ fault. How was I supposed to know Kairi would tell Selphie? And that _Tidus_ would overhear?"

"I didn't want you telling Kairi in the first place, remember?" Riku said as he tossed his shirt onto his bag. He lowered the zipper on his pants and then finally glanced up at Sora, opening his mouth to say something else.

The words never made it out though, because Sora was suddenly right in front of him, grabbing the front of Riku's wifebeater and pulling him down to meet his lips.

"Mmmph!" Riku protested, pulling back almost immediately. "_Sora-_"

"Damn," Sora muttered, staring up at his friend. "I forgot you were so much taller than me."

Riku hesitated briefly, but then he smirked and rested his hands on Sora's waist, gripping the thin material of his shirt and pulling him closer. "You've always been a shrimp," he said.

"Shut up!" Sora said. "I'll be taller than you one day, just you wait. Until then…" Sora grinned and pushed at Riku's chest as hard as he could, sending the other boy sprawling onto his back in the sand. Sora was straddling his hips in an instant.

"Ow," Riku said flatly, blinking up at Sora.

"I like this better," Sora said, still grinning.

"I'm getting sand in my hair."

"You can wash it later."

"And you're getting my uniform pants all dirty."

Sora slid down so that he was sitting more across Riku's knees, and hooked his fingers into Riku's belt loops. He grinned. "Easily rectified."

"What if the others show up?" Riku asked, even as he lifted his hips so that Sora could tug his pants off.

"It's a school night," Sora said, tossing the navy blue slacks over his shoulders.

"We're out here."

Sora grinned, leaning forward and slipping his hands beneath Riku's t-shirt. "We have good reason to be."

"True," Riku murmured, tentatively reaching out and running his fingers along the soft skin at Sora's waist.

"Here, just take it off," Sora said, sitting up and grasping the bottom of his shirt.

"Wait, don't-" Riku cut himself off abruptly, his cheeks going faintly pink.

Sora paused. "It's not like you haven't seen me without a shirt on before," he said eventually, arching his eyebrows. "Hell, it's not like you haven't seen me _naked_ before, for that matter."

"Yeah, well, completely different circumstances," Riku muttered, shifting his gaze to the side.

Sora chuckled and leaned down to press a kiss to the exposed skin at Riku's collar. "How did I end up being the more confident one?"

"It's not that I'm not confident!" Riku said quickly, breathing in deeply as Sora ran his tongue across his skin.

"Does it really bother you that I'm more experienced?"

Riku rolled his eyes, his hands now clutching the loose material of Sora's shirt and holding him close. "Hardly," he said. "And it's not like your two-month stint with Kairi really counted for a lot."

"Three months," Sora corrected absently.

"Whatever."

"It's three months more than you've ever had."

"Hmph." Riku squirmed a little, trying not to gasp as Sora kept going at his neck. "And anyway. You haven't – It's not like you've ever been with another _boy_."

Sora paused.

"Er. As far as I know," Riku added. His brow furrowed when Sora didn't say anything. "Sora!" He grabbed hold of Sora's shoulders, pushing the other boy away so that he could look him in the eye.

"Weeeell…" Sora chewed lightly on his bottom lip, glancing away.

Riku's eyes went wide. "Are you serious!"

"There was this one time with Leon…"

"Who the hell is _Leon_!"

Sora looked back at him. "You never met him? Real tall, shaggy brown hair? Leather pants, lots of belts…"

Riku frowned. "Oh. Him." Then his eyes widened again. "He's like ten years older than you!" he exclaimed. "What the hell, Sora, were you just not going to tell me about him!"

Sora chewed on his bottom lip some more, and then burst out laughing. "Oh my God, Riku! Jealous, much?" he said, beaming. "I was _joking_! Geez."

"Oh." Riku looked doubtful. "You were?"

"_Yes_," Sora insisted, rolling his eyes. "You think I would have freaked out so much the first time we kissed had you not been the first boy I'd done that with?"

Riku shrugged, eyes shifting to the side.

"Oh, stop pouting."

"I'm not-!" Sora didn't let him finish, instead leaning down to kiss him. He reached blindly for Riku's hands, interlocking their fingers and holding them in the sand on either side of Riku's head. Riku's head tilted back, his mouth sliding open beneath Sora's, and he groaned lightly when their tongues met.

Unconsciously, he shifted beneath the smaller boy, pressing his hips up against the body above him. Sora gasped, shuddering, and eagerly thrust back down. Obviously, wearing nothing but boxers left very little to the imagination.

"S-Sora," Riku gasped, head falling back and eyes squeezing shut as Sora grinded against him.

"Mmmm," Sora hummed contentedly. He rocked against him some more, sucking lightly at the skin right below Riku's jaw, and reached one hand down to rest against Riku's pelvic bone. He thumbed gently at the skin there, enjoying the way Riku twitched and shuddered against him. "Can I…?" he whispered, trailing off. He moved his hand to rest against Riku's stomach.

"What?" Riku said absently.

"Riku…" Sora pulled back a little, waiting until Riku finally blinked his eyes open and looked at him. Sora ran his fingers just beneath Riku's waistband, watching as his eyes went wide. "Can I…uh…" He nodded in the direction of Riku's crotch.

"Sora…" Riku said, shifting uncomfortably as his cheeks went pink. "I don't…"

"Oh, come on," Sora wheedled. "Pleeeaaase?"

Riku's brow furrowed as he tried to concentrate on something other than the way Sora's fingers kept up moving over his skin. "I…I guess," he said, somewhat helplessly, as he did his best to keep his hips still.

Sora grinned. He kissed Riku quickly and then, with little hesitation, slid his hand between them and wrapped his fingers around the other boy.

Riku bucked up into his hand, gasping and squeezing his eyes shut. Sora chuckled, moving his hand experimentally. Riku bit his lip, his head falling back. He was panting, the flush across his cheeks becoming more vivid as beads of sweat broke out across his forehead.

"S-Sora!" he gasped, gritting his teeth and thrusting up again. His toes curled as Sora kept his hand moving.

"Relax," Sora murmured, tightening his hand and adding a little twist at the end of each tug.

Riku made a sort of strangled, gurgling sound. "I _am_ relaxed," he hissed between clenched teeth. He tightened his hold on Sora's free hand, their fingers still interlocked.

"Sure you are." Sora smiled, pressing an open-mouthed kiss to Riku's collar again. Riku gasped and bucked his hips upwards. "Come on," Sora whispered. "It's just me."

"Shut up," Riku said, gasping again. His jaw fell open as he panted some more, and Sora sped up the movement of his hand. "Sora – I…"

"It's alright," Sora said quickly.

Riku groaned, shifting and letting his legs fall wider open. "But-"

"Just do it."

Riku grunted, his face twisting into an almost grimace, and then he came with one more sharp gasp, arching up into Sora's hand.

He collapsed back down against the sand again, breathing heavily, his face feeling like it was burning. Sora kissed the side of his neck.

"Riku," he murmured, before capturing his mouth once more. Riku kissed him back without even thinking about it, wrapping his free arm around the other boy's shoulders. "Not so bad then?" Sora asked when he pulled back.

Riku was still panting and could only manage a slight shake of his head. "Not…bad at all," he said, a slow grin curving onto his lips. "Very good, actually."

Sora grinned. "Good!"

"Oh." Riku opened his eyes, staring at Sora. "Um. Did you want…?" he trailed off, floundering a bit, and waved his hand randomly.

Sora chuckled. "Nah. I'm good for now."

"You're sure?"

Sora nodded, laying his head against Riku's chest and listening to the steady pounding of his heart. He felt Riku's arms rest around the small of his back, and before he knew it, his eyes had drifted shut.

He wasn't sure how long they lay there like that, but it was still sunny out when he opened his eyes again, so it couldn't have been too long.

Someone was nudging him in the side.

"Sora," a familiar voice said. "Sooora. Sora! Wake up, you lazy bum!"

"…Kairi?" Sora twisted around, blinking up at his friend.

"The one and only," Kairi said, grinning at him. She propped her hands up on her waist. "My, well don't you two look cozy."

Oh.

Sora snapped his head back around, finding Riku's wide-eyed gaze staring back at him. He moved to sit up, but Riku hands pressed down on his back, holding him in place.

"Do _not_ get up," Riku hissed, his cheeks going bright pink.

"Oh my God, they're so cute!" said another voice. Sora twisted back around, finding not just Kairi, but all four of his other friends standing there. He heard the choked sound that Riku made, but ignored it. "I should have brought my camera!"

"Selphie, please shut up," Sora said simply, collapsing back against Riku's chest.

Tidus crouched down beside them, peering at Sora. "What were you guys doing out here, anyway?" he asked curiously.

Sora felt his cheeks go red. He hoped he could blame it on the sun. "Er. Sparring?"

Tidus arched an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Exactly what sort of sparring?" he asked, smirking a bit. Sora often forgot that Tidus wasn't as stupid as he pretended to be sometimes.

"Man, leave them alone," Wakka said, pushing Tidus away with a quick foot to his shoulder. "You two better hurry up an' get dressed, ya? Your parents were asking about you."

"Oh yeah," Kairi said, looking at Riku. "Apparently you're supposed to baby-sit tonight? Your mom sent us to find you."

"Oh shit," Riku said, his eyes widening a bit. "Forgot about the brats."

"I'll help!" Selphie said, bouncing on her feet eagerly. "Your brothers are so cute!"

"They're twin terrors," Riku muttered, pushing himself halfway up on his elbows. "It's a wonder they even remember who I am."

"_I'll_ help," Sora said, glaring at Selphie. "Go bother Wakka's brother or something."

"Hey, leave my brother outta this."

"I don't _need_ help," Riku said, glowering. "I can handle them on my own."

"You don't need help, but you _want_ it," Sora said, smirking. "Right, Riku? Right, right?"

Riku opened his mouth, paused, and then let it snap shut. "Erm. Yes. I guess help would be nice…"

Tidus burst out laughing, rolling around in the sand. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! Riku's so whipped! Ahahaha-_ACK!_" He rubbed his head, glaring at Wakka. "Oi, you didn't have to throw it at me!" he grumbled, tossing the blitzball back to him.

"We came out here to play, didn't we?" Wakka asked, spinning the ball on his finger. "Hurry up already!"

"Alright, alright. Geez. Later, guys," Tidus said, mock-saluting at the rest of the group. Wakka waved, and then the two of them jogged off down the beach.

"We're gonna go watch," Selphie said, grabbing Kairi by the wrist. "Bye, boys!"

"Hurry up and get back!" Kairi called back to them as she was dragged away. "I don't want your mom thinking I didn't find you!"

Riku let out a breath, blowing his bangs off his forehead.

"That was alright," Sora said, watching his friends as they disappeared around the bend. "See? It won't be so bad."

"I'm going to kill Tidus one of these days," Riku grumbled. "Oh. You can move now."

Sora grimaced at the stickiness between them as he pulled away. "Yuck. Quick swim in the ocean first?"

Riku looked up, smirking. "I'll race you."

Sora grinned. "You're on! Loser buys the winner ice cream!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Riku said, brushing the sand of his backside. "Ready?"

"Yes. No, wait." Sora turned to Riku, quickly grabbing his shirt and pulling him down to his level so he could give him a quick, yet quite thorough, kiss.

"What…?" Riku said dazedly when Sora finally let him go.

"Okay, _now_ I'm ready!" He grinned briefly at Riku, and then took off down the beach. "GO!"

"What – wait-" Riku cursed and then, laughing, sprinted after him. "_SORA!_"

**FIN**

* * *

Hehe, Sora's gonna get his soon, no worries. :D

-Maxine

P.S. Yeah, totally gave Riku some younger brothers. Heh.


End file.
